


the silence of falling snow

by GriffinHuntress



Series: Wondrous Tails Shorts [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Final Fantasy XIV Spoilers, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Spoilers, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Pre-Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Slow Burn, Suggestive Themes, and (mostly) implied sex later, but there is some nudity, how does one write a slow burn, i don't think there will be anything explicit, no beta we die like men, so hopefully that's rated right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:54:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriffinHuntress/pseuds/GriffinHuntress
Summary: As a Viera, Rinne feels somewhat of an outsider among Eorzeans and even the Scions of the Seventh Dawn; nor does it help that theotheroutsider is now the Warrior of Light. A trip to Coerthas and Camp Dragonhead in order to track down missing supplies for the Scions alongside the Warrior of Light leads Rinne to meet Haurchefant Greystone.
Relationships: Haurchefant Greystone & Warrior of Light, Haurchefant Greystone/Original Female Character(s), Haurchefant Greystone/Player Character, haurchefant greystone/original scion character
Series: Wondrous Tails Shorts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655791
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	the silence of falling snow

**Author's Note:**

> _Peace be with you, soul divine  
>  Wake again in paradise  
> Crowned in glory, fear no more  
> Winter’s misery or the coming war_
> 
> [Gloria Regali](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn_m9FDPuuw&list=PLDcAKor7_Hoi7rr6BkAoiFgIVTRzDJXTK&index=2&t=0s) is a great soundtrack for anything Heavensward. Inspired by the Wondrous Tails event, but not part of it!

The brunette Viera tilted her head back, green-tipped ponytail brushing her back as she gazed up at the walls of Camp Dragonhead in mild awe. Of course she had seen the Empire's Castrums, but their walls were strange,  _ alien _ scars on the land - she never could have appreciated them like she did these.

She didn't realize she had stopped walking to admire the frozen and blizzard-swept landscape before her until she felt a smaller form bump into her back. The small sneeze and noise of complaint told her it was indeed the Warrior of Light that had collided with her, rather than one of the chocobos they were leading across the icy snow.

"C-come, let us go quickly, we will be out of the wind once we are through the gates… b-be sure to attune yourself, Mistress Rinne - next time, we shall use the aetheryte."

To the Viera's surprise, though the slim Au Ra woman with the lilting accent didn't seem able to handle the cold particularly well, she had still agreed to head up this trip to Coerthas to hunt for their missing supplies. She also came along on most trips to the snowbound land when she wasn't preoccupied with Warrior of Light-related things, now that Rinne gave some thought to it.

"Shikibu, is there a reason you visit Dragonhead often? Particularly since you fuss so much about the Ishgardians."

"I d-do not  _ fuss _ ! They get on my... patience." A small huff of breath escaped the red-headed Au Ra. "L-let us continue this inside… please?"

Rinne nodded and, after adjusting her pack, began again the careful climb up the steep and icy slope to the gates of Camp Dragonhead.

A silver-haired Elezen in chainmail had already appeared in the entrance before they reached it, most likely alerted by the sentries. Upon seeing him, the shivering Warrior of Light chuckled and returned his enthusiastic waving with a small wave of her own. Before he could hurry down the hill to meet them halfway, one of his own men took his arm and pulled him away with the attitude of someone who had something important to report.

…

"Oh, praise Halone! I'm so glad to see you here safely, my friend!"

Startled, Rinne looked up from trying to knock some of the ice-like snow off of her clawed boots just in time to see Reika Shikibu, the Warrior of Light, nearly crushed in the hug of an Elezen who stood almost 3 fulms taller than her. It took the Viera a moment to recognize him as the silver-haired man who had been waving at them during their approach to the camp; looking around the room, she noted the presence of several other knights who all seemed to defer to him. Was  _ this _ the Ishgardian commander they'd been sent to speak with?

"I was readying the search parties for you! If my men had not seen you when they did - "

Reika pushed him away, still smiling. "I am sure that your men were quite happy about you planning to lead the charge, yes? I am glad to see you as well, friend. The weather forced us to dismount; elsewise we would have reached you several bells ago."

The Elezen nodded, raising and clenching one hand into a fist. "By the Fury, I  _ would _ have rode out right away to meet you, were you in trouble or no! 'Twas only a sudden emergency in the kitchens that kept me here."

Rinne could guess from the amused but long suffering look of the female knight behind him that  _ perhaps _ the severity of the "emergency" had been somewhat exaggerated for exactly that reason.

The man's curious attention suddenly fell on her, however, and Rinne found herself staring directly into an angular face with clear eyes, a beak-like nose, and an incorrigible smile.

"I don't believe you introduced me to your companion, dear friend."

"Oh." The Warrior of Light turned back to Rinne, gesturing her forward. "I am sorry - Rinne, this is Lord Haurchefant, commander of Camp Dragonhead and member of House Fortemps. Lord Haurchefant, this is Rinne, a fellow Scion. She agreed to come along in Alphinaud's stead."

"Ah, you must be another scholar then?" The Elezen bowed politely, and Rinne, still at somewhat of a loss in these situations, attempted a half bow of her own.

"An adventurer," she corrected, not wishing him to get the wrong idea. "Only a wanderer before the Scions took me in."

Haurchefant's expression, which had dimmed slightly, brightened again. 

"Mistress Rinne, then? It's a pleasure to welcome you to Camp Dragonhead! Mayhap you - "

The Warrior of Light cleared her throat to head off what sounded like it could become a long tangent, her tail switching. "Lord Haurchefant, about the missing supplies for the Scions…?"

The Elezen sighed and shook his head, raising his hands in a  _ what can you do _ gesture before he smiled at Rinne again. "Of course; business before pleasure. I would  _ love _ a chance to get to know you better, Mistress Rinne - any friend of my dear friend is welcome to be a friend of mine. Perhaps we can have a chance to speak more later?"

The Viera nodded. Though forward and  _ very _ eager, he seemed kind enough - and if the Warrior of Light considered him close, then he  _ couldn't _ be all that bad. Truthfully, he seemed the exact opposite of what she'd been told to expect from the Ishgardians. She'd expected to  _ hate _ this Ishgardian commander, and here she was, watching him animatedly discuss the heretics with mild amusement and thinking, yes, his nose looked like a hawk's and his hair needed to be cut with something other than a belt knife, but he wasn't really all  _ that _ unattractive…

Rinne was starting to see why the Warrior of Light visited Coerthas so often now.

…

It was their second day in frozen Coerthas, and the Warrior of Light had already headed off to Whitebrim to discuss the situation with Lord Drillemont, while Rinne had stayed behind to oversee the loading of supplies to replace those apparently lost to heretics. It would have been a simple task, and one completed rather quickly, but as Shikibu had softly told Rinne the afternoon before, the Ishgardian garrisons were already struggling. They were too proud to admit how the loss of even a few carts actually would impact them, and so to quietly assist, she had been helping with various tasks - mostly hunting, which was easy for the forest-born and -raised Viera, but also the occasional random errand as well. 

It was after one such task that she found herself distracted watching the knights of Camp Dragonhead at their training. Their dedication was impressive, to be training even in this weather, when she could see their breath in the air and she knew their sweat would begin to freeze as soon as they took a rest.

The Viera sighed and turned away. She could feel the weight of her twin chakrams on her hips and she was itching to join them, but today, she had little desire to be stared at for what she'd gathered to be an " _ exotic _ " fighting style, not when she already grew stares and whispers wherever she went. It was one reason she'd bonded with Shikibu when they'd joined the Scions - they were both outsiders - but unlike the Au Ra, it was far more difficult for her to hide her thick hair, her ears, or her distinctive Viera facial features. Of course, now the other woman was  _ also _ the vaunted  _ Warrior of Light _ , making a new distance between them. It was hard for the Viera to admit she missed having a tribe around her, despite their differences.

"A gil for your thoughts, Mistress Rinne?"

Rinne looked up into the face of Lord Haurchefant.

"You look rather troubled," he explained, taking her quiet for confusion. "Are you concerned for Mistress Reika?"

"The Scions may have sent me as her bodyguard, but we both know she doesn't need one." When she spoke, the words seemed harsher than they had sounded in her mind.

The Elezen shifted his weight thoughtfully, a hand rising to his chin. "And is that what's troubling you?"

"No…" Rinne drew out the word uncertainly, and Lord Haurchefant gestured towards the west wall.

"Come friend, walk with me."

...

Once atop the wall, Rinne couldn't help leaning out over the crenelations, eyes closed and nose and ears twitching as she breathed in the frigid breeze. Though biting, it was refreshing and helped clear her head.

It was to his credit that Lord Haurchefant remained quiet until she turned to him. He too was standing with his hands on top of one of the crenelations, a mildly pensive expression on his face that immediately disappeared when he saw that she was looking at him.

"Are you feeling somewhat better now? At times, I too come up here to clear my head. My men know to leave me alone when I do."

Rinne tilted her head. "You don't seem likely to be the very contemplative sort."

He laughed. "You wound me! I have worries and concerns just like any other man."

"Are  _ you _ worried for the Warrior of Light?"

The pensive expression returned, and the Elezen sighed. "Of course I am. She takes such great risks - and always by herself. Would that I could be by her side…!"

Rinne watched him for a moment, then turned so her back was against the wall, elbows resting on top of it. "You care a great deal for her."

Lord Haurchefant nodded, then looked back out over the snowy landscape. "The Warrior of Light carries all of our hopes and expectations with her, and yet she's risen to the challenge every time! It is something truly splendid to behold."

The Viera tilted her head slightly, trying to understand the hint she heard under the constant exuberance in his voice. "You two must be very happy together then."

The Elezen looked back at her and waved his hand as he laughed. "The Warrior of Light and I? Oh no, no. We're good friends, but that is truly it. She made it clear that her interests lie in a different direction when I first propositioned her."

Rinne stared at him for a moment in shock, then burst out giggling herself. "You did  _ what _ ? I'm sorry, do you flirt with every adventurer that steps through your gates?"

"I am  _ always _ very clear what my intentions are - " He was grinning, clearly not ashamed at all, as he waved a hand in her face. "Stop that, else the whole camp will know we're up here!"

This, of course, only made Rinne giggle harder, until finally, sniffling, she wiped a few already freezing tears from her eyes. "I'm… I'm sorry. It's just… you're not anything at all like I expected when the Scions told me about you Ishgardians."

"Is that so? I will take that as a compliment! I have heard little and less of what you Eorzeans think of us, but not much of it is complimentary."

"It's not very," Rinne admitted, shaking her head. When she looked up, she was startled to realize the man had stepped closer, causing her to stare into his clear eyes.

"Here." He offered her a handkerchief, and she took it sheepishly, realizing suddenly that between the cold and her fit of giggles, her nose had begun to run. The Elezen smiled at her. "We ought to head back inside. One of us is like to catch something if we stay up here for much longer. Oh! Perhaps we could warm up together in my private chambers?"

It took the Viera a moment to understand his innuendo. She pushed him aside playfully. "No! We just met; you can't ask an adventurer you just met to sleep with you."

She headed down the steps from the top of the wall, laughing as he called after her, "It was worth a try, Mistress Rinne!"

It wasn't until she had reached the room that she and Shikibu had been given that she realized she still had his handkerchief.  _ Oh well _ , she told herself.  _ It's snotty and nasty, he wouldn't want it back like this anyway. I'll… wash it and return it to him later. _

**Author's Note:**

> It's easier to write about characters other than my WoL, but she'll eventually get something. I hope? Anyway, here's hoping I didn't misremember any names or places too badly, and many thanks to those people over on the Emet-Selch Discord for being encouraging to a very rusty fic writer!


End file.
